I'm surprised there has been no mention of the Stanford rape trial and sentence on all nurses. I'm opening up the discussion as I feel it pertains to us in many ways. One as people who may have been victims or know others who have been victims of sexual violence and two as nurses that have taken care of others in this situation, whether directly in ER or a patient suffering from PTSD with other health problems as well.
I applaud the survivor's bravery and her impact statement that has gone public. I hope this will comfort other survivors, but even more I hope this will discourage rape in general. Campus rapes are common and rapes at frats are in the news frequently. Once again a college athlete got off with just a slap on the wrist, although I don't think he counted on all the negative publicity this case has garnered.
What disturbs me the most is the letters of the parents to the judge. The father's don't punish him for 20 minutes of action. Then the mother's letter, who by the way is a nurse for gynecological surgeries and in the past as a pediatric nurse, who had not one iota of empathy for the victim. Her letter simply astonished me. I can't believe as a woman, as a nurse, as a mother of a daughter she had no empathy for the victim! This troubles me the most! I imagine in her years as a nurse she must have taken care of a rape victim and her total lack of empathy for the victim disturbs me greatly!
I like the analogy about playing in traffic and then getting outraged and shocked when you get hit by a car.
I honestly thought that it was a rather poor analogy.
From a legal and moral standpoint I equate a rapist to a driver who instead of hitting the brakes hard or attempts to swerve around the person when he spots a person playing in the middle of traffic, instead chooses to push down decisively on the accelerator and aim straight for the playing person, with the explicit intention of running them over.
If a person gets run over after they went playing in the middle of traffic, despite the driver doing everything in his or her power to avoid running that person over, then that would make it an accident.
There is no such thing as an accidental rape.
The car and traffic analogy is just another way of saying that a woman's actions and/or behavior is a contributing factor to her rape.
The analogy bothers my on another level too. Almost any reasonable person would acknowledge that playing in the middle of traffic is a decision that carries a significant amount of risk.
Comparing that to a woman going to a party in a form-fitting dress and drinking alcohol and talking to men and trying to make it seem that the risks are similar and comparable, paints a very ugly picture of the what level of decency, trustworthiness and morality we have the right to expect of men. Do we hold them in such low regard? Are they that lacking in moral fibre? Is the default position that men should be regarded as potential rapists?
Personally, I love and respect the men in my life. I will not let a minority of deviants out there in the world dictate how I live my life. I will not accept that I have to curtail my freedom in order to "be safe" from individuals who are by definition criminals.
I will start by saying: 1. I was raped as a teen and it pretty much destroyed my life for a few years 2. Rapists should get the book thrown at them. Women need to stop acting all empowered and equal in every way on one hand and then all helpless the big bad guy raped me on the other. Make up your mind. If I get drunk in some strange place and get raped the guy should go to jail and I should take an honest look at my behavior and how it endangered me. Don't play in traffic and then act all outraged and shocked when you get hit by a car. The lack of personal responsibility is ridiculous.
This is the one thing in this entire thread that has offended me, and made me feel ashamed. Bravo.
Wearing a skirt, or having a few drinks is nothing like playing in traffic. It's more like having a nice yard, keeping the exterior of your home nice. Someone breaks in - is it your fault for having a nice yard? Of course it's not - no one would even consider that. Because it's ridiculous. Even if I had a nice home and a well kept yard, and forgot to lock my front door, I'm still not at all culpable for someone entering my home and taking my things. Because that's illegal.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Double jeopardy applies only to murder trials.
I hope you're right about that, but FindLaw says this:
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has established that the right against double jeopardy is not limited to capital crimes or corporeal punishment but extends to all felonies, misdemeanors, and juvenile delinquency adjudications, regardless of the punishments they prescribe.
Double jeopardy refers to trying a person twice for the same charge when they have already been tried and a verdict reached. What I found says (edit: Rose Queen beat me to it) "The Supreme Court has established that the right against double jeopardy is not limited to capital crimes or corporeal punishment but extends to all felonies, misdemeanors, and juvenile delinquency adjudications, regardless of the punishments they prescribe." They could theoretically prosecute him for additional crimes, but I highly doubt they have evidence of anything they didn't already try to pin him for at the last trial. If there had been a change I'm sure it would be all over Google results.
I honestly thought that it was a rather poor analogy.
From a legal and moral standpoint I equate a rapist to a driver who instead of hitting the brakes hard or attempts to swerve around the person when he spots a person playing in the middle of traffic, instead chooses to push down decisively on the accelerator and aim straight for the playing person, with the explicit intention of running them over.
If a person gets run over after they went playing in the middle of traffic, despite the driver doing everything in his or her power to avoid running that person over, then that would make it an accident.
There is no such thing as an accidental rape.
That's very well said. The driver who sees the person in the street and decides to put pedal to the metal and run them over is far more analogous than innocent driver accidentally plows into the person standing in the street because he didn't see her or didn't have time to stop.
Hopefully someone will rape him in jail. And for the 6 months. I doubt he will even serve that amount. It is disgusting all around . I am sure he will do something like this again and it will be worse. Very sad.
I would offer this: This boy raped an unconscious woman. How in the he11 does he get 6 months and out in 3? Yes, I hope he gets justice in prison because the victim didn't.
I would offer this: This boy raped an unconscious woman. How in the he11 does he get 6 months and out in 3? Yes, I hope he gets justice in prison because the victim didn't.
Well, apart from the obvious objections that can be made from a humane standpoint, which have already been expressed in this thread, regarding if the state should condone rape as a method of punishment...
Do you have any idea how short-sighted and counter-productive your lust for vengeance is?
So take one spineless sexual offender and abuse the **** out of him? Then what?
Your hope is that someone be brutalized and humiliated. Chances are that you've created a person with a powerful hatred towards the society he will soon be released back into. Who do you think such a person would go after? Who would that person take out their vengeance on? (I doubt that he'd go after 6' 5" muscular males, since he's previously targeted a woman). You and I can only speculate as to how that could change a person's modus operandi, but much more violent attacks wouldn't surprise me at all. I'd say any real chance for rehabilitation would pretty much be out the window. What you wish for is in my opinion a recipe for creating a "monster".
Fighting crime with crime just isn't the solution. When we start dishing out as good as the criminals give, we've lost the right to claim the moral high ground. We've become no better than them.
Wake88, BSN, RN
82 Posts
A friend told me that they're going to re-try Brock in court, according to the news today.
HOWEVER, I'm not seeing anything about this online.
Could anyone verify this for me?